Blood Basket
by flamefield
Summary: In a world where vampires are the dominant species, one human girl is about to change everything the Vampire Monarchy has ever known. While searching for hope in the darkness, she will also shape her own destiny...the question being is it good...or bad? on hiatus till june 12 2013 due to school problems
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

A lone shadow crouched above the rooftops of the city, watching the parade underneath him unfold with grace. His eyes, pointed with hatred, seem to emanate death. Below, the citizens cheered and shouted as the royal party moved slowly throughout the dirty streets. Prince Yuki, who seemed like a god from the way he looked and walked, waved half-heartily at the kingdom's people. He was the favorite of the King, and would most likely succeed him after his death.

Around him there were cloaked figures who almost seemed to glide over the cobblestones. They were the royal guards, and even the shadow knew that they were inhumanly fast. It was impossible to try to assassinate the prince, with the royal guards around him and Hatsuharu, another person belonging to the royal family, walking next to him. The shadow rubbed his scars from his previous encounter with him, which was over two years ago. He had grown stronger since then thanks to his father's training.

On his other side was Hatori, an elder member of the royal family who treated them. There was a rumor that he was considered to be a successor before he decided to become a doctor, but the shadow doubted it. If anything, Hatori was powerful, but his power had been shorted the longer he grew physically. He was 27 when he stopped, an ancient physical age for the royal family.

This celebration was really a see-off to the vampire prince's departure to the Outer-lands, where the humans lived. Every time he needed to feed, this stupid parade was held to see him off because Yuki was 'special'. He was considered a national treasure, more prized than any of the royal family members.

The shadow watched until the procession had moved out of the city and into the countryside. He would not get a chance at killing the prince until the prince was completely alone and weak, away from the guards. He had only come to see if Prince Yuki was sicker than he was a year ago. And judging by the fact that Hatori needed to come along, the shadow had guessed right.

He glared at the party's retreating direction, before hopping off the roof and running to his house. It would be soon when his chance will come for redemption.

"Tohru!" The brown-headed girl turned and smiled at her friends, who were waving from her house gate.

"Hello Uo-chan, Hana-chan!" She went up to the gate, a giant basket of clean laundry in her hands. "What's going on?"

Arisa Uotoni laughed. "Don't tell me you forgot, now?"

Tohru became confused, trying to remember what she had forgotten that included Uo-chan somehow. "Di-did I forget something?" She asked fearfully.

"No, Tohru. Nothing that important." Hanajima Saki placed a gentle hand on the girl's shoulders. "There's the yearly performance tonight, the local theater's doing some renditions of fairy tales, with my brother having all the leads."

Tohru's face paled. "I'm sorry." She whispered, bowing her head in shame. _How could I forget something as important to Hana-chan! I'm such an idiot!_

Hanajima smiled, hugging Tohru. "It's quite all right, I'm not surprised you've forgotten. You've done so much work around the house for your grandfather, you must be exhausted."

"Yeah, where is your grandfather now?" Arisa asked.

"He's sleeping again." Tohru recovered, smiling. "Nowaday's he gets tired very easily."

"Well as soon as you're done with the chores, meet us where we usually have lunch, alright?" Arisa said, referring to the park nearby.

"Of course!" Tohru beamed. She couldn't wait to see Megumi up on the stage.

Prince Yuki fell to the ground, barely caught by Hatsuharu. Breathing harshly, he looked up into Hatsuharu's concerned face. He grinned weakly. "I'm all right. I just need some blood in me."

Hatsuharu looked at Hatori, who was ready to take action if necessary. He shook his head. He knew Yuki better than anyone else, and he knew when Yuki would certainly need Hatori's care. "Can you stand up?"

Yuki nodded, and with Hatsuharu's help he managed to stand up and keep walking.

"We're coming up on a town, sire." One of the guards spoke, pointing a finger to a beamage of lights just over the horizon. "Soon the sun will set, and then with your orders we can take off the shields." *

The prince looked hopefully towards the town, noting that the scent of fireworks seemed to reach their party. "They seem to be getting ready for a celebration."

Hatsuharu's eyes gleamed red once the town became on sight. Yuki noted that his friend's hands twitched in anticipation. Hatsuharu had more bloodlust than Yuki or Hatori did, and sometimes it could get out of control. "Well then we're just gonna have to crash the party." Hatsuharu licked his lips in anticipation.

*AN: The vampire royal guards have the ability to cast shields that block out the sun and their presence to humans. Also Hatsuharu and Hatori are technically Princes, but they aren't in public opinion considered princes officially because they are not the king's favorites. Rate, Review, Comment!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

The crowd oohed and ahhed as the night sky exploded with color. Among the crowd Tohru, Arisa, and Hanajima looked at the sky with fascination.

"Look, look! Isn't it wonderful?" Tohru shouted bubbily, pointing at the different shapes that the fireworks made. It was only once a year that she got to see fireworks, and this year was the first time that she wasn't going to see it with her mother, Kyoko. Arisa and Hanajima smiled at her, but in their hearts they were still a little sad.

Kyoko had been Arisa's savior, making her realize that running around with thieves was not what life should be about. As for Hanajima, Kyoko didn't help her overcome her fear of her weak, deadly power (Tohru did) but to her, Kyoko was still close to her heart.

When they had gotten the news, they were in school. A teacher took them out into the hall and told them there had been a slaughtering at the village that Kyoko traveled frequently to because of her job. A band of rogue vampires had went there to feed, and Kyoko had been killed by them, her body had been completely drained of blood.

It had been one year since then, and after only a week of mourning Tohru had begun to act as she had usually had. Although Arisa and Hanajima were shocked at her sudden recovery, they too began to heal thanks to Tohru's happy spirit. Tohru went to live with her grandfather, and began to help take care of him.

A man stood up on the stage and asked everyone to sit down. "Very shortly you will see the annual performance, but you will need to be quiet!" He shouted over the crowd's chatter. Almost immediately everyone sat back down in their chairs, and waited in silent anticipation for what was to come.

The curtains opened, and a mountain-like landscape began to roll across the wall of the stage, signifying movement. Megumi appeared onto the stage, walking in place. He wore a lot of clothes and on his back carried a knapsack.

"There's Megumi-chan!" Tohru whispered excitedly to Hanajima and Saki.

The narrator began to speak.

Once upon a time, there was a foolish traveler who had gone on a journey. Why was he foolish? Well, because he was fooled by everyone he met!

The scene changed into a town landscape.

Everywhere he went, people made up all kinds of sad stories to tell him, and the traveler fell for every one of them.

A young girl came up to Megumi.

Please, some money for medicine…?

An older boy soon followed.

I have a sick younger sister…

Then an old woman came in front of him.

I don't have money to buy seeds to plant in my fields.

Pretty soon, his money, his clothes, even his shoes had been cheated away from him.

A group of people came onto the stage and took everything Megumi had save his cloak.

However, the foolish traveler was always glad to help. For everyone of them, he'll smile and say, "I wish you happiness."

Megumi kept repeating "I wish you happiness." As more and more people took his stuff away.

But by this point, the traveler was completely naked, save an old tattered blanket. With nothing left to cover himself, he decided to leave the main road and travel through the dense forest, where no one could see him…

The scene changed into a forest setting, and the lights dropped to almost a near black level.

Soon, he was discovered by the goblins that lived in the woods.

A bunch of people with ogre masks on came onto the stage.

The goblins wanted to eat the traveler's body, so they begged and pleaded, and used kind words to try and trick him…

The people mimicked the narrators words.

Of course, the traveler was fooled. First, he let the goblins eat his legs.

Megumi dropped to the ground onto his knees, and the lights shaded his thighs.

Then an arm.

Megumi put an arm behind his back, the light helping to create the illusion that it wasn't there.

Then more and more…before it was over, all that the traveler had left was his head.

A table was rolled onto the stage (It was painted to look like a tree stump) and Megumi placed his head onto it.

He'd even given his eyes away to the last of the goblins…

An person with an ogre mask appeared on stage, and appeared to take Megumi's eyes. Megumi closed his eyes.

And as the last goblin was eating the traveler's eyes, he turned and said "Thank you, traveler. In return, I leave you this present."

The person with an ogre mask mimicked the narrators words, and then threw a slip of paper onto the ground.

What the goblin left was a slip of paper, with the word "fool" written on it. The traveler couldn't see it. He didn't know what it was. Even so, tears began to flow down his face.

Tears began to flow from Megumi's closed eyes.

"Thank you," he said. "This is the first present anyone ever gave me. I'm so happy. I'm so happy. Thank you."

Megumi mimicked the narrators words.

Even without his eyes, he cried and cried great tears of joy. Then, the traveler died, with a smile on his face.*

Megumi smiled, and then the stage went completely black.

Immediately everyone stood up and began to clap. Quite a few cheers rang out as the curtains again opened for curtain call. The entire cast went forward, hand-in-hand, and bowed.

Arisa was obviously cheering the loudest, with Tohru clapping excitedly beside her. Hanajima simply clapped, but he gave a calm, warming smile to her little brother.

Just as the cast on stage bowed for the second time, a piercing scream rang throughout the applauding crowd.

VAMPIRES POV:

Hatsuharu did hate it so whenever his victims screamed. But he did have to admit when the crowd turned to look at him biting this womans neck, his ego boosted at the instant attention.

But then again, he hated the noise they made when they saw him and the royal party behind him. They ran away screaming, pushing each other out of the way. Humans only thought for themselves, after all.

"Yuki, how was yours?" He turned casually to his friend, who just threw the completely drained corpse of a young man aside, his pretty mouth smeared with the alluring color of blood.

"Not enough." He said, breath ragged. He turned to the royal guard. "Go. Feed. Leave enough for Hatsuharu, Hatori, and me."

The guard, who had been licking their lips hungrily up until that point, pounced at the opportunity and began to attack the last stragglers from the area.

"Are you feeling powerful enough to hunt, Yuki?" Hatori said, finishing up his own human. "It's not good to stress yourself too much before going to catch dinner."

Prince Yuki nodded. He could feel his power begin to pump through his veins already. Hatsuharu had found two humans huddled under the stage and threw one towards Yuki before burying his fangs into the soft, cool neck of a girl.

The other girl, her friend, perhaps, looked up at Yuki, frightened and entranced by his beautiful, gory appearance. He winced at the look in her eyes. He hated the look in a girls eyes when he was going to have to drain her.

He picked her up harshly. "Sorry about this." He murmured into her ear before grasping her shaking body and plunging his fangs into her neck, savoring the taste of human blood.

*AN: This is the Foolish Traveler, in case just-new FB fans want to know. Of course, you SHOULD know this story. Rate, Review, Comment!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Tohru turned towards the scream, shocked at the sight that she was not prepared to see. A young guy, with shocking white hair, had a girl and was _biting her in the neck. _Over to the side a very good-looking purple-haired guy was doing the same to a guy.

Instantly everyone started to scream and run out of the area, not wanting to become vampire food. Megumi had jumped down from the stage and had run over to them.

"We need to get out of here." Arisa said fearfully, looking at the vampires. That was Tohru's wake-up-call. Uo-chan, her Uo-chan, was NEVER scared. Uo-chan was as tough as a rock. Tohru began to shake.

"Grandfather." She whispered, realizing that he was still at home, sleeping, unawares. Vampires targeted anyone, man, woman, or child, no matter the age. If they found him, he'd be dead.

Hanajima looked at Tohru. "We need to go get your grandfather?" Terrified, Tohru nodded.

Arisa began to pull the four of them into the side streets. "We'll go there now, okay? We need to hurry though. If we get ourselves in a closet, we'll be fine."

They began to run, the screams behind them getting louder every second.

**YUKI'S POV:**

Yuki dropped the sixth body that he had just finished. He smirked, his usual violet eyes gleamed a sharp, silver color as he looked down at the 'town defender', a person who was supposed to keep vampires out of the town. His blood had tasted heavy and sugar-filled, though, since over the years the defender had let himself go, gaining about 200 pounds or so. He gagged a bit at the sweetness.

"A joke of protector." Hatori said beside him, chucking. "I'm surprised no other clan has attacked this village, there's so many people living here." He turned towards Hatsuharu, who was greedily devouring yet another girl. "We're done here, Haru. Let's move onto the side streets."

Haru grinned against the girl's open neck, tossing her aside as if she was paper. "Fine." He grinned, wiping blood off of his mouth. "The guards should be having their fill by now, and from the smell there's plenty left hiding in the corners and in their houses."

Yuki could feel his unique power settling inside of him, ready for automatic use. He sniffed the rusty-stained, delicious air, wanting to drink his entire fill so that he didn't have to do this again next year. He scanned the town, looking for a scent that was most tantalizing that the others. Then it hit him. The most intoxicating scent that he had ever smelled that came from a human. He began to walk, Hatsuharu and Hatori right behind him.* They, too, could smell the human, who was with three others. The delighted shrieks of the guards rang throughout the town, and Yuki smiled in disgust at their joy for feeding on humans.

**TOHRU'S POV:**

"Hurry, we're almost there." Arisa panted as they ran past a sobbing woman in the streets.

Tohru was frightened, very frightened. She looked behind her at a panting Hanajima. She was never good at running, Tohru knew that because she was not the best runner as well. Screams echoed behind them, with some gleeful cries of the vampires. Tohru's face grew pale at the thought of those people's fates. She wanted to help.

Hanajima noticed Tohru looking at her concerned, even though they were running as fast as they could. "I'm fine, Tohru." She smiled encouragingly at her friend. "Look, there's your house."

Sure enough, Tohru's house was at the end of the street. The foursome sprinted as fast as they could to the door, safety right in front of them, emanating security and peace.

Of course, irony had to appear at that moment.

Arisa screeched to a halt, eyes wide as she took in the man...no...the _vampire_ as he appeared out of thin air. They turned to run the other way out of instinct, but another vampire, this one black-haired, abra-cadabraed there too. Arisa turned around to face the vampire behind her, shoving Tohru behind her back**. He looked young, around her age even, but his bright white hair and crazy, red eyes said different.

Megumi noticed something coming, and looked to his right just in time to see a purple-haired vampire jump from a roof and land beside the white-haired one.

Tohru gasped at the vampire's beauty. He seemed fragile, just from the way he moved, but Tohru could see he was scary despite his unusual handsomeness, and powerful, very powerful. He emanated power. The purple-haired vampire licked his lips, and Arisa and Hanajima prepared to fight. Tohru hugged Megumi, scared beyond belief.

**HATSUHARU'S POV:**

Hatsuharu began to laugh at the girl's attempt to protect the one that smelled the most delicious. He didn't even blink before he had the two girls on the ground, paralyzed. Being a vampire did have its perks.

"UO-CHAN, HANA-CHAN!" The other girl screamed, but clutched the boy she held even closer to her, perhaps fearful that if she let go, he'd be dead.

"I'm sorry." The girl turned towards Yuki, who stalked towards her in a predatory-like fashion, a hungry look graced his beautiful face. "But you and your friends are meeting God tonight."

**TOHRU'S POV:**

Tohru looked back quickly at Arisa and Hanajima. They, too, were terrified, but they were looking up at the white-haired and black-haired vampires. The vampires looked like they were holding themselves back, as if waiting for an order of some kind. _Why arn't we dead yet?_

**YUKI'S POV:**

Yuki was about to tell Haru and Hatori to go ahead, but the yummy-smelling girl turned back to look at him, and he stopped in fascination.

She was scared, obviously. But her eyes seemed to say something else, something that stopped him from biting into her neck. She began to cry.

"Please." She sobbed. "Don't kill them, don't kill them. Don't kill anymore here, please."

Haru looked at him, getting impatient. "Yuki, let's go. This one looks like she'll be my final dessert." He grinned down at the frightened, but pissed blonde-headed girl.

Yuki looked at the crying, brown-headed girl, curious, since this is the first time his prey requested something like that. Usually they just cried or screamed or were too shocked to say anything. Let alone this girl was scared for her friends. "Why should I call off the feeding on your town? I'm hungry."

The girl just cried harder. "Please, Mr. Vampire. Don't do anything to them." She wasn't scared, he saw. She was just concerned for her firneds.

"Yuki." Hatori said. "Just kill her." He was getting impatient too. Hatori hated to wait for the Prefered Royal's first bite. It was out of respect towards the Prefered Royal and Vampire Monarchism in general, but now he just wanted to feed off the dagger-eyed girl below him.

The Prince looked intensely at the girl, making a last-minute decision. He hated seeing girls like this. Crying. "I will call it off if you come with me."

Two gasps emanated from the other girls. "TOHRU, DON'T DO IT!" The blonde shrieked before receiving Haru's kick to her face. The other one just said weakly, "No..." Then the two were silenced by a wave of Hatori's hand. ***

Hatsuharu scoffed at Yuki, eyes red. "Great. NOW you decide to get a feeder."

**TOHRU'S POV:**

Tohru began to shake. She needed to save Uo-chan and Hana-chan, and Megumi-kun too. They were her FRIENDS, her true friends. She could always count on them. Megumi hugged Tohru tighter, shaking his head. "No, you cannot do it." He said forcefully.

But Tohru took a deep breath and looked at the handsome purple-haired vampire. "You'll leave this town?" She said. "And you'll never come back?"

The black-haired vampire nodded "We keep our promises, girl."

The purple haired vampire smiled, gleaming his blood-stained fangs at Tohru. "Great. Let's get moving back to the castle."

Tohru looked at Uo-chan and Hana-chan, and tears began to roll silently down her face. _Goodbye. I'm so sorry. Take care. _She had no choice but to trust the vampires. Her going with them was the town's only chance at survival, however small.

Two pairs of unseen hands forced Megumi out of Tohru's embrace, and soon she found herself at the edge of the village, heading somewhere new, vampires crowding around her and the three strange vampires. She cried harder in sadness.

AN:

*When vampires walk, they glide really fast over the ground.

**Hanajima was on Tohru's other side, so Tohru was behind Hanajima's back as well with Megumi. Forgot to clarify!

***He has the power to cut people's voice boxes temporarily, just so you have clarification about that. Hatori does have the power to erase memories as well, but usually he does it only when the King orders him to. Rate, Review, and Comment!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Yuki could feel Haru's eyes burning a hole on his back, but he didn't really care. The girl that had come with them was chained now, for precaution, and was accompanied by two of the royal guards. He couldn't hear her sobs anymore.

"Yuki, are you sure this is a good idea?" Hatori whispered in his ear. "This is very sudden, it isn't like you at all, actually. Taking prey home to be your feeder? Shigure-"

"I'm not Shigure, Hatori." Yuki muttered under his breath, interrupting the doctor. "Now that I think about it, there's something about this girl that's very different. And I'm not talking about her scent, either."

Hatori stared at Yuki before turning towards where they were walking. "Are you doing this out of pity, then? Or because you decided to finally get a feeder?"

"No." Yuki said. "For now, until I figure this...emotion out, she'll serve as my personal feeder." He walked a little faster than the rest of the group. He didn't need this curiosity from Hatori as well.

**TOHRU'S POV:**

Tohru shuddered when she heard the purple-haired vampire, no, Yuki, say again that she was going to be his _personal feeder._ She kept hearing that word, feeder. What did that mean? She was scared, she didn't know where they were taking her specifically, either. Tohru was a little comforted at least by the small fact that the rest of her town was safe, that Uo-chan, Saki-chan, Megumi, her grandfather...that everyone was safe. Everyone was okay. They had to be.

She put her chained hands up to where her necklace was, a tiny picture of her mother was inside. She squeezed the locket, feeling a tiny bit more brave. _I don't know where we're going, Mother, but at least everyone is alright._

"We're here, Yuki." She heard the black haired vampire say. _Yuki called him Hatori, I think. _Tohru suddenly felt herself being whisked past a walkway of trees and into city streets.

"The Prince has returned!" She heard someone cry out, and a flurry of vampires flooded the streets, all cheering.

"This welcoming party is always annoying, but now since she's here..." A very frightened Tohru turned her head to see the white-haired vampire scowl at her. "Don't see why you had to suddenly decide to get a feeder, Yuki..."

Tohru suddenly found herself getting sleepy, and she could feel her mind cloud. "For now, your Highship, I'll put her to sleep so she can get into the castle without anyone trying to get a taste of her..." She heard someone say before she blacked out completely.*

She woke up lying in a small bed in a very expensive, frilly room, several other girls dressed in maid's uniforms looking at her expectantly. "Are you feeling all right, Miss?" One of them asked. She seemed to be the oldest out of them all and around 17 , Tohru's age. The rest ranged from what seemed like 12-15 years old. They were human as well.

"Uhm, may I ask where I am?" Tohru said, sitting upright on the bed. Her head was throbbing for some reason.

"You are in the feeder's quarters, miss." one of the younger ones squeaked. "The Prince says to have you ready by dinnertime."

Tohru felt fear again when she heard that word. "Am I...dinner?"

The maids looked at each other and laughed. "Well, miss, you are now the Princes feeder, so in a way, yes."

"Ah...I see..." Tohru gasped suddenly, clutching her hands to her necklace "Wait, the PRINCE?"

"Yes miss." another maid said, but by that time Tohru was in another world. _This explains this expensive-looking room, but I never knew that he...Yuki...was the Prince of the VAMPIRES! This is all too much._

Tohru continued to have thoughts like this while the maids dressed her in a yellow, frilly dress** and put her long hair up into a neatly done bun with ribbons attached to the sides. Then she was escorted to a small room and left there. Tohru cradled her necklace as she looked at the door where she supposed the Prince was supposed to come out of, getting a little more scared by the minute. _For the village._

**YUKI'S POV:**

"My dear Yuki, how are you?" The King of the Vampires stood from his throne, embracing his potential successor. "I'm so glad to see that you're looking much more alive."

Yuki nodded a little, pulling away when the King did. He felt very sick just by being in the gothic-like Throne Room. "Yes, Akito-sama, our Hunt was successful."

He stiffened a bit when the King's black eyes narrowed into slits. "Oh? But you didn't kill off the whole village. I would hardly call that a 'success' my dear Yuki." He smiled, digging his claws a little into Yuki's shoulder. "You stopped on the account of one little girl, am I right?"

"Yes, but now she is my feeder, so it makes up for it, your Highness." Yuki gritted his teeth to distract him from the slight pain. "Their village is far-off anyhow, and few in number."

Akito sighed, and withdrew his claws from Yuki's shoulder, blood starting to stain his black robes. "Very well. I'm bored of you anyhow. Go."

Yuki turned, clutching his shoulder to help stop the bleeding as he exited the Throne Room. He heard a chuckle outside the doors.

"He's quite a character, our King." Shigure stepped out of the shadows, wearing a sparring robe. "I was surprised he didn't rip your arm off for letting that small village live."

"Shut up." Yuki hissed. "You don't even fight, so why are you wearing a stupid sparring robe?"

Shigure threw his arms up in the air. "For the hell of it, and I need inspiration for my writing hobby."

The Prince turned and began to move toward his quarters. "I heard you got a feeder, finally." Shigure said.

Yuki stopped. "So?"

"Well, does she taste good?" The black-haired vampire smirked.

Yuki didn't answer. He began to walk again. "By the way, HE'S back, so just a heads-up." He heard Shigure call after him.

"Great. I don't want to deal with someone like that today too." Yuki muttered.

**TOHRU'S POV:**

Tohru couldn't stand waiting any longer. She stood and opened the door where the Prince was suppossedly going to come out of. What greeted her was not the Prince, but a majestic red-and-black bedroom, with some white here and there. The bed was enormous as well, and everything was so...EXPENSIVE. Tohru looked at the bedroom, open-mouthed.

Suddenly the doorknob turned and in walked the purple-haired vampire, clutching his arm. Tohru turned and stood, petrified, at him. The Prince looked at her for a few seconds before going over to one of the chairs and sitting down. A few minutes passed.

"Um..." Tohru said. "Arn't...you going to drink my blood?"

The vampire...Yuki...looked up at her before laughing hard, showing his fangs. "I don't know. We'll see how I feel."

Tohru nodded. "...I see."

Yuki looked at her, his dark, moon-rimmed eyes devouring her almost. "You're strange. You would do anything to save the people you love, wouldn't you?"

"Is...that strange?" Tohru asked.

"Our culture is like humans in a way, 'Everyone for themselves.' Almost no one looks out for each other. I've seen people push out their 'loved ones' in front of them so that they wouldn't have their blood dranken." He chuckled. "But you're the first who's had the courage to stand up to me, even in a small way. You interest me."

Tohru blushed.

"What's your name?"

"Tohru. Honda Tohru."

'**MYSTERIOUS' POV:**

The shadow, after making sure he wasn't followed, began leap over the rooftops to where the Prince's window was. He was confident he could take him out, he had learned so much in the past few months. The Prince was powerful, sure, but the shadow figured he could kill him before the King sent the guards to intervene. God, he could kill the stupid pretty prince if the King hadn't made it a part of the Deal to have guards stop the fight before one could kill the other.

He came closer to the window and grinned. Then with a mighty leap he threw himself through the window and faced the Prince, who was sitting in a chair. The shadow cracked his fists. "Get ready to die, you stupid vampire."

AN:

*When humans are knocked out, their scent disapeers, plus a Royal Guard has the power to do so if neccessary.

** Think dress that Tohru wore in Ayame's shop

Guess who the 'shadow' is...it should be kind of obvious.

Rate, Reviews, Cooooommmeeenntt! :D


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Tohru fell down, startled by the sudden noise of glass shattering. In front of her was a tall, sitting orange-haired man...no, vampire, glaring at Yuki. His back was to her, but she could feel hate emanating off of him.

"Get ready to die, you stupid vampire." The orange-haired vampire grinned, standing up. "Today is the day the Deal ends."

Tohru looked at Yuki. His cool eyes were now darkened in annoyence. "Really, and why should today be any different, Kyo?"

The orange-headed vampire...Kyo, shifted to a ready position. "You'll see." Tohru saw Yuki get into a ready position, and acted without thinking.

"Waa-it, stop!" Tohru got up and accidently tripped on the expensive rug, causing her to fall onto Kyo.

"Aah-" Kyo fell to the ground with Tohru, his eyes wide open in surprise from the sudden added body warmth. He inhaled her scent all too soon, a sweet scent that made his eyes narrow in bloodlust, wanting her death.

"I'm sorry!" Tohru said, not noticing his sudden change. "I didn't mean to-" She was cut off by Yuki suddenly picking her up off the ground and putting her behind him.

Yuki looked at the now heavily breathing vampire. "Sorry, I forgot to mention that I got a feeder on my last town feeding."

Kyo looked up at Yuki, and then noticed Tohru. His bloodlust look disappeared instantly and he became more...something other than inhuman. Tohru couldn't quite pinpoint it.

There was silence in the room for a while. "Heh. Wasn't expecting this." He stood up again, cautious. "Didn't know that you had a HUMAN girl living with you now."

"Things change when you've been out of the castle for a while." Yuki said simply. "I'm sorry, Miss Honda, that you're going to have to see this." He slammed into Kyo, throwing the vampire back into the wall.

Tohru gasped in Yuki's sudden violence. Then the same guards she was with earlier came bursting in through the door, along with a black-haired vampire wearing something like a sparring robe.

"My liege, are you alright?" One of the guards asked.

"Yes." Yuki ran his fingers through his hair, looking at the orange-haired vampire. "I think he's done for the day."

Kyo got up suddenly. "Dammit!" He said angrily. And then he was gone, the wind taking his place.

"Um, um, what-?" Tohru asked, confused.

"Oh-ho! This pretty little thing is your new personal feeder, Yuki?" The black-haired vampire laughed. "What a catch!" He crossed the room and took Tohru's hand in his own. "I am Shigure Sohma, a part of the Royal Family, and Prince Yuki's cousin." He was about to kiss her hand when Yuki suddenly hit him really hard on top of the head.

"Save your perverted actions for your little concubine, Shigure." Yuki said harshly. "Miss Honda here is technically my property."

"Of course." Shigure said, retreating back a little. "Leave us." He ordered the guards, and they did so.

"Uhm...who was the...?" Tohru asked, still a little dazed.

Shigure gestured towards the broken window. "Great. More repairs..." He then looked Tohru directly in her eyes. "That was Kyo Sohma. He is also a part of the Royal Family, but due to some circumstances..."

"He is not a real vampire." Prince Yuki said darkly. "His mother was a human while his father was related to the Royal Family. Such scum..." Tohru saw the disgust in his eyes.

_Poor Kyo. _She thought. _He must be hated so much_.

"Anyway, Miss Honda." Yuki sat back down in his chair. "There's your current issue to worry about. If I return you to your village or if you somwhow manage to 'run away', the King might suspect something is up, and will most likely kill you and the rest of your village." He looked at Tohru, purple eyes mesmerizing but deadly. "However, since killing humans is not my favorite hobby, you can stay here in the castle. You can have my guarentee that no one will drink your blood, and that you will be protected."

Tohru turned white at the though of staying in this castle forever, a prisoner, never to see her friends again. "Well, if I'm to stay here forever, is there anyway I can be of use?" At the very least Tohru wanted to DO something.

Shigure chuckled. "Well...you ARE a feeder, so-" Yuki glared at him and instantly he shut his mouth.

"You can help out in the kitchens and in the laundry if you wish. Also our recent gardener has...passed away, and everyone does love the flowers that bloom here in our Realm." Yuki said. "The other Royal Family members are also quite interesting, and feel free to talk to them."

Tohru smiled. "Well, as long as I am useful, I am happy. Would it be alright if I change to some more comfertable clothes?"

"Certainly. Go back there and turn left. The Feeder Staff will help you." Tohru nodded and walked through the door Yuki was pointing at.

"Thank you, and nice to meet you both." She said before disappearing into the blackness.

Yuki and Shigure looked at the door she went through for a minute before Shigure coughed. "Well, I like her."

"Shut up." Yuki said. "First her, then Aktio, and then a 'surprise' attack from Kyo all in two days. I'm exhausted." He closed his eyes in tiredness.

Shigure looked at the vampire, who even though was full on blood, looked sicker than average. "Taking on this much in a short time will make you suffer even more. Remember that."

"Go away. And send a mage up here to fix the window while you're at it, I'm getting cold from this draft." Yuki heard Shigure close the door and let out a big sigh. His mind started to wander, and it ended up back with his new 'feeder', Tohru. Honda Tohru.

_What is it about her that stopped me? What stopped me...? _He thought before drifiting into a peaceful slumber.*

**Tohru's POV: **

The maids helped her change into a loose blood-colored nightgown. Tohru could already feel the events of the day settling in. Once again she clutched at the necklace around her neck.

_Mother, so much has happened in such a short time. I met Prince Yuki, the vampire that attacked our village officially, and he actually isn't so bad. I also met another member of the Royal Family, Shigure, who is very charming. And...then there's that other strange vampire. Kyo. He must've been sad for a long time because everyone here seems to think different of him because of what he is. I feel bad Mother, I think that he doesn't like me because I got in the way of his fight with Yuki. But we'll see what tomorow brings. Goodnight. _

The maids showed her to a lavish bed, and Tohru gratefully wormed herself through the covers. Within minutes, she was asleep.

AN:

*YES I made it so that vampires sleep, but their conscious is still active so they can attack in their sleep.

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	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The everlasting moonlight casted an eerie shadow upon the castle floor. Kyo was scared as a child of the images that it made, mostly of a terrifying monster, he thought that it would 'get' him and chew him up. However, his mind wasn't focused on his past phobia, but rather on that rat's new feeder. That girl...she had that scent...

**SMACK!**

Kyo slammed back to the ground, rubbing his forehead and cursing the castle architects for making ceilings so low. He'll figure it out in the morning. His head was in no shape to think about anything right now.

**The next morning... **

** (In another part of the castle)**

** "**YAY! YAY! I GOT ICE CREAM FOR BREAKFAST!" Tohru heard someone cry out from the first floor, making her drop her folded pajamas in surprise. She looked toward the maid standing next to the door and laughed. "I guess there are vampire children here, too." The maid didn't reply, as she hadn't to Tohru's statements the whole morning. Tohru didn't mind much, it was comforting to talk to someone, anyone.

She put on the outfit Yuki had kindly left for her, which was basically a white t-shirt with a blue skirt. "_In the Vampire Realm if a human wears white, then it means that the human is a personal feeder. If the human wears red, it's free-for-all. So remember to always wear white." * _He had told her before he left.

"The dining hall is down the stairs and two doors to your left." The maid suddenly said, opening the door. "Have a good day, Miss Honda."

"Oh, no, have a good day too, and thank you so much!" Tohru chirped, leaving the room. The door closed behind her and Tohru was left all alone in the corridor. "Now, she said down the stairs...so..." She looked around. "Where are the stairs?" She stood there for a few minutes, trying to figure out whether to go left or right.

"Oh! You're Yuki's new feeder, right?" Tohru spun around to see a little blonde boy sucking on a popsicle stick. _One of the royal children? He must've been the boy that yelled earlier. _

"Y-yes." Tohru said timidly. "I'm Honda Tohru."

"I'm Momiji!" The boy shouted, giving Tohru a big grin. "Yuki didn't say anything about you being really pretty, Tohru!" Tohru felt her face turning red at the compliment. _He seems very happy. _

"Anyway," Momiji continued "Yuki sent me up here to show you around the castle."

Tohru nodded, smiling at him. She felt she could trust him. "Well, then you should do that." _I can skip breakfast..._

For the rest of morning Momiji took Tohru to almost every single room in the castle, even to the dungeons. The whole way the boy joked with her, making her laugh and feel at home. She didn't see any other vampires save for some servants, but Tohru was glad in a way. If the others were like that white-haired vampire, she wouldn't feel very safe around them.

Momiji didn't say much about the other royal family members, either. He did say that they were all out on a sight-seeing trip for the day. Tohru wondered if the orange-headed vampire, Kyo, was with them or not.

_ "He is not a real vampire." Prince Yuki said darkly. "His mother was a human while his father was related to the Royal Family. Such scum..." _

"Hey, Momiji." Tohru said suddenly. "Is there something wrong with Kyo?"

Momiji stopped walking. "I don't know much about Kyo, or if there's something wrong with him. All I know is that he has it out for Yuki for being more 'prized' over him or something like that. Why do you ask?" He said in a low voice, much different from his normal tone.

"Oh! Well...um..." Tohru stammered.

"Doesn't matter, let's go to the garden where you'll be working!" His tone instantly went back to its normal high pitch. "C'mon!" He grabbed Tohru's hand and they ran the whole way.

**Somewhere outside the city...**

"Haru, are you still mad at me over that whole incident?" Yuki asked. The whole Royal Family had gone to scope out new feeding towns ** and in the carriage Yuki, Haru, Hatori, and Shigure were in, it was a foul-smelling air, all directed at Yuki.

"Oh course he is, Yuki." Shigure grinned. "You don't take away the mouse from the cats mouth, after all."

"Shut up." Haru muttered. "You cause more trouble for me than I need."

"Hatori! Haru's being a meanie-head!" Shigure fake-sobbed onto the doctors shoulder, only to be shoved away a few seconds later.

"Enough! Shigure. Leave him alone." Hatori said, annoyed.

"I'm not angry at you, Yuki. It's..." Yuki looked at Haru and knew what the problem was without having him say it out loud.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Haru's eyes slid over to where Hatori and Shigure were sitting. "Later."

"If you're sure." Yuki said. He grew up with Haru, and they were almost blood brothers from the way they knew each other. "What do you think about the air from this town?" He pointed towards the approaching buildings.

Haru sniffed. "Too dry for me."

**Back at the Castle...**

Tohru gasped at the beauty of the Royal garden. Compared to her potted forger-me-not's at home, the garden was a palace all on its own. A rainbow of colors surrounded the gigantic area, illuminating roses, sunflowers, tulips, carnations, and more. Sunlight *** shined down on the green leaves looked healthy, save for a little browning, and butterflies completed the perfect picture.

"This...this is amazing!" Tohru exclaimed, breathless at the beauty surrounding her. _Mother, can you see this?_

"Yeah, it's gotten a little out of shape though since our last gardener passed." Momiji said. "She was really pretty too."

"Where are the gardening tools?" Tohru looked around. "I can start right now!"

"Ooh, ooh, can I help?" Momiji shouted, bouncing up and down.

Tohru laughed at her new friend's silliness. "Of course!"

As they began their work, they didn't notice someone watching them closely from the castle window.

**AN:**

*** He meant as in somewhere on her person, w/out red**

**** Feeding towns are towns where vampires have taken over and everyone is a feeder in a way (like a inn)**

***** A sunlight barrier surrounds the castle and the city in the day, so vampires can be exposed to it and not burn or sparkle! :D**

**I gave you guys an extra-long chapter because for the next 20 days I'll be traveling with a school group tooooooo *drumroll* INDIA! Thank you all for being supportive and please keep it up because believe it or not it actually motivates me to write more chapters. So I expect to see a lot of new reviews and comments and ratings when I check back into society in 20 days, and by then I'll have thought up the rest of the storyline. **

** YOU ARE AWESOME**

**RATE, REVIEW, COMMENT!**

**...tacos. **


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

To Tohru, the next three days went by like a breeze. In the morning a maid helped her out with the clothes and she had a nice breakfast, mostly with Momiji, who always ate something sweet.* Then she worked happily in the garden, pulling out the weeds and watering all the colorful flowers. She prefered to stay outside in the light, rather wandering the cool, black hallways of the castle.

So far, besides Momiji and Shigure, no other Royal Family members had introduced themselves. Tohru wondered about the black-haired and white-haired vampires she saw with Yuki that night, but didn't ask about them or the other members when he visited her.

"You want to do what?" Tohru said, putting down her egg.

"Let's play hide-and-seek! Please please please!" Momiji said, jumping up and down.

This was the first time Momiji had ever asked her to play something other than tag in the garden.

"It'll be in only one part of the castle, so it'll be really easy to find me!"

Tohru sighed. He seemed to be so excited. "I guess it's alright..." Yuki didn't say it was dangerous anymore in the castle, either.

"Great!" Momiji grinned, pulling her away from the table and out of the dining room. "We'll do it in the south wing!"

Momiji lead her to a large area where there was two doors and a staircase going down. "Count to a hundred, and then come find me!" Tohru nodded and closed her eyes.

"97...98...99...100!" Tohru opened her eyes. She chose the right door first, which ended up to be a small storage room. When she couldn't find him in that room, she went into what appeared to be a bedroom.

"Guess I gotta go down there." Tohru came out of the room, looking a little scared at going down the stairs.

When she reached the bottom, Tohru was at the beginning of a long hallway, with a lot of empty cells on the sides. It was dark save for the candles lighting the way to the end of the hallway, where a door loomed.

"Momiji?" Tohru called, inching her way to the door. "I kind of don't want to play anymore.."

Tohru reached the door. With a trembling hand, she slowly turned the doorknob, opening the door with a crack. It was pitch black on the other side, but Tohru opened the door wide open.

"...Momiji?"

Tohru heard what she thought was choking, before a voice started to suddenly scream. "I'M SO SORRY I'M SO SORRY I'M SO SORRY I'M AN ABOMINATION TO THIS EARTH I'M SORRY I DROPPED MY BOOKS I'M SOOOOOOORRRRRY!"

The frightened girl started to turn to run away on instinct when she felt two cold arms suddenly embrace her. "You smell so...nice, though." She tensed when she felt two sharp things at the base of her neck. "NO!" She screamed, trying to push the strong arms off.

"Oi! Ritsu!" Tohru looked to see the orange-haired vampire, Kyo, standing at a ways from her. "She's Yuki's personal feeder, Ritsu."

Tohru felt the force of the two arms disappear, and turned around again to see a very beautiful orange-haired woman with a shocked look on her face. "She's...Yuki's feeder?"

**Kyo's POV**

Kyo rolled his eyes. "Yes, Ritsu. Maybe if you didn't put yourself in isolation for the stupidest things, you'd know things like this."

"I'm so sorry..." Ritsu began to tear up again. To his surprise, the brown-haired girl hugged Ritsu almost immediatly.

"It's alright, you didn't know." She said kindly. It was like she forgot Ritsu tried to drink her blood seconds ago. Weird girl...

"Tohru!"

The three of them turned to see Momiji walking towards them. "I was in the bedroom, under the bed, silly!"

Tohru laughed. "I forgot to look under there."

"I-I'm Ritsu!" Ritsu spoke up. "I'm part of the Royal Family as well..."

The human girl smiled. "Pleased to meet you Ritsu! I'm Tohru Honda."

"Let's all go work in the garden. You too, Ritsu!" Momiji said cheerfully, turning and heading to the stairs again, Ritsu following. Kyo was about to go as well before he heard the girl say "Um...I'm sorry if I offended you in any way, Kyo..."

He sighed. "You didn't. It's just that damn Yuki..." He left it at that. He didn't want to explain his relationship with this dumb girl anyhow. But he held out his arm, maybe this will help.

He was just hoping she couldn't see his red face in the light...

**Tohru's POV**

Tohru saw his arm pop out in the dim light. "You know, you can hold my arm, as we walk out, or something, but it's not like..." he mumbled.

_Is he trying to apologize...? _She thought before giggling a little and taking his arm. "I would be delighted, Kyo." Hopefully he would talk to her more often now...

**In another part of the castle...**

"Hey Kagura, have you heard that Kyo is back?" Shigure said to a breathing lump of blankets.

In almost an instant the covers were thrown back. "He is?!"

**AN: **

***Yes, vampires can eat human food as well, it just won't satisfy them as much as blood. **

**i can't say I'm sorry, because my laptop was engulfed in water, thus losing the original chapter 7 draft. Also, I got the inspiration for another fanfic, this time an AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER one, so I've been working on the first four chapter of THAT. **

**I really appreciate your support on this fanfiction so far, guys, and I want to say thank you. Chapter 8 coming soon! **

**Rate, Review, Comment!**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Tohru put up a hand to shadow her face from the sun as she looked at her work. The weeds that had been invading the tulips had finally been vanquished, and now they were standing straight as a row of soldiers. She smiled and reached down to cup a smaller tulip. "Keep growing, and you'll make it!" She said.

"Ahem." Tohru jumped at the sound of Kyo's voice. "You wanted some help again, right?"

Tohru nodded. The orange-haired vampire kicked one of his feet in the dirt. "Well, what can I do?"

"If someone put those bags of fertilizer on those empty flower beds, that would be great!"* The brown headed girl said happily.

"That's ALL you called me for?!" Kyo shouted, throwing his hands up in the air. Tohru jumped a little again.

"I'm sorry! I can do it myself, never mind!" She said meekly, scooting around the orange-haired vampire to where the large bags of fertilizer were. She put her arms around one of the bags and was about to lift when a hand pushed her back, making her drop the bag.

"You're not strong enough." Kyo said, lifting a bag onto each shoulder and heading towards the flower beds. Tohru stood in astonishment before smiling again. "Thank you so much!" She said.

Two days had passed since Tohru met Ritsu** and Tohru felt like she was finally starting to settle in. She prayed everyday that everyone back home was safe and happy. _Mother, please continue to watch over me and give me strength. _

She had passed Kyo twice before the situation now, once on her way to breakfast and when she was heading back from the garden. He replied hello to her greeting before hurrying on his way. Tohru didn't understand this fascination she had with him, but she wanted to spend more time with him than even Momiji.***

The two worked in silence for a few minutes, with the buzzing of the bees and the gusts of air as their only sound, before Kyo spoke. "Why do you talk to the flowers? You know they can't hear you, right?"

"That's not necessarily true." Tohru replied. "My mother used to talk to our forget-me-nots at home all the time, and they grew faster because she talked to them. So I just do what she does to help the flowers grow!"

Kyo chuckled. "That's strange, you know."

"How are you, Tohru?" Yuki suddenly came into view, along with the white-haired vampire.

"I'm good, thank you Yuki!" Tohru said happily, "The tulips have finally been saved from the weeds!"

"That's good." Yuki said, bending down to examine them, a small smile on his handsome face. "I haven't had a chance to come down here to check on your progress. You've done a wonderful job."

Tohru laughed a little. "I had some help, Momiji and Ritsu and Kyo helped too."

Yuki's purple eyes snapped toward where Kyo was watching the trio of them silently, his red eyes filled with rage. "I see." He said cooly. "Anyway, Tohru, this is Hatsuharu, another member of the Royal Family."

"Oh! Nice to meet you!" Tohru said.

"Nice to meet you as well." Hatsuharu said calmly.

"OI! ARE WE GONNA DO THIS OR WHAT?!" Kyo shouted, standing up. "I'M READY YOU DAMN RAT!"

Yuki sighed, taking off his cloak**** and handing it to Haru. "Please make sure Tohru here stays out of the way."

"Sure." The white haired vampire said, scooting a bewildered Tohru behind him.

"W-wait you can't fight!" Tohru said, trying to get around Haru.

"It's alright, no one is going to get hurt badly." Haru stepped back from the fighting arena a little. "Trust me."

Tohru could only watch as the two vampires started to trade blows.

**Kyo's POV**

The damn prince kept moving just out of reach of his attacks, he was like a shadow he was just that fast.

"YOU-DAMN-RAT!" Kyo shouted with every blow he delted out. "STOP-MOVING!"

Yuki only coughed a little as he dodged a punch.

**TOHRU'S POV:**

After a while, Tohru noticed Kyo was breathing much harder than normal and his movements were slowing down. _Is he really alright...?_

"You never change." Yuki said darkly, before punching him back to the garden entrance.

Tohru could only gape in astonishment as the prince shook his hand in the air. "I did that harder then I meant to."

"It was a good punch." Haru commented.

"OH MY GAWD KYO ARE YOU OKAY?!" A loud voice echoed throughout the garden.

Tohru ran towards where Kyo fell and saw a brown haired girl clutching Kyoto her chest. "Who on earth would do so much harm to you? People who cause pain should be burned to death..."

"Kagura, I think you're causing more pain than I did." Yuki said as Kyo started to gasp for air and flail about his arms.

"Oh! Yuki is this your feeder I've been hearing about?" The girl released a deflated Kyo and got up off the ground.

The prince nodded. "This is Honda Tohru. Tohru, this is Kagura, the princess." *****

"Pleased to meet you! You're very pretty! You like Kyo don't you?" Kagura said as she grasped Tohru's hand with both hands and shook it hard.

"Oh-oh no, I don't like anyone right now." Tohru said weakly. "And pleased to meet you too, Your Highness."

"Oh, good then." Kagura said cheerfully. "Now come along Kyo, I want to have a tea party!" She grabbed the poor vampire's hand and started to drag his body down the corridor.

Kyo stood up and dug his feet into the ground. "I don't want to go to some stupid tea party!"

Kagura stopped and looked at Kyo with a very scary expression. "YOU'RE GOING TO A TEA PARTY AND YOU'RE GOING TO LIKE IT!" Kyo didn't protest after that, but held is head in shame as the Princess dragged him off.

"She's very energetic, isn't she?" Tohru said in an optimistic tone. "And good for her, she has someone that she likes a lot."

"Yes, well..." Yuki took back his cloak from Haru. "I'm glad to see that you're socializing and doing things."

"Yes! Thank you so much for giving me this job!" Tohru chirped.

Yuki looked at his "feeder". This energetic young girl was the one thing in his life that was different from formal occasions and official Monarchy signings. He sighed

"I can probably get you back to your hometown, you know."

**AN:**

***I don't know much about gardening, and I couldn't research it at the time**

****I don't like Ritsu. Period. I just wanted to get him out of the way, so basically Chapter 7 was a filler chapter. Sorry Ritsu fans! You won't see him again...**

*****She doesn't have Hanajima or Arisa, or Rin or Kisa yet so technically Momiji is her "girl BFF". Also this is a LOVE STORY.**

******Let me get you up-to-date on vampire clothing. They usually wear a cloak over regular clothes, which can be anything from pj's to a tshirt and jeans (Kyo doesn't wear one)**

******* In order to be princess, you need to be the eldest female successor in the Royal Family. That's why Rin isn't the Princess.**

**Okay! Is everyone happy? 2 chapters in 2 days! I'll try to write the next one ASAP and make it 2,000 words so it's extra extra extra long! I'm sorry to leave on a cliffhanger...and this was such a horribly written chapter too...**

**Thank you all!**

**Rate, Review, Comment! :)**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

"Really?!" Tohru said intensely, a smile gracing her face.

"Well, I don't know for sure." Yuki said directly, scratching his head. "I'm afraid you'll have to stay here undercover."

Tohru's smile vanished. "Oh, alright." She turned back to her work. Yuki turned and strode out of the room, still feeling irritated at Kyo.

Haru caught up to the Prince. "Why did you say that? She looks kinda upset now."

"I'm just pissed, and I needed to see someone else feel bad." Yuki replied.

"This isn't like you, Yuki." Haru said, a little concerned. "You've never taken it out on another person before."

"Yeah, well things change Haru." Yuki turned a corner. "I'm going to go to punch a tree or something."

**Tohru's POV**

For the rest of the day, Tohru felt like crying a little. She was sure Yuki had done that to get some anger out, the Yuki she knew didn't do things like raising people's hopes up before dashing them down to the ground. It wasn't until evening arrived that Tohru found that the garden chores for the day were now complete. She stood up from the dirt and sniffed, wiping a few stray tears from her eyes.

"I'm alright, Mom." She whispered, grasping her necklace as she put the garden tools away.

**Kyo's POV:**

Kyo kicked the barrel, sending it flying across the room. Kagura kept him in that horribly pastel-colored room sipping imaginary tea for hours. God, he hated the Princess. She had an unnatural fascination with him and she creeped him out constantly. Only problem was that he couldn't say no to any of her definite decisions BECAUSE of her status. Also she had super-strength*... He karate-chopped another block that the castle dojo had a million of before turning around and going out of the stairs. He was tired.

He was passing by the parlor rooms when he caught the scent of tears wafting from one of them. Curious, he peeked through one of the doors and saw Tohru fast asleep on a couch. Her arms were clutched to her chest and the salty smell was coming from her cheeks. He stroked a finger across her cheek and licked it.** He looked at her sleeping for a minute before closing the door.

"You like her, don't you?" Kagura said from the other end of the hallway, her arms folded. "More than me."

Kyo looked at her, his red eyes unreadable. "Answer me." She demanded. He turned and walked towards his room, not saying a word.

**Tohru's POV: **

She woke up on the couch in one of the parlor rooms. Rubbing her eyes, she stood up, careful not to fall over from sleepiness. _I must've not made it to my room._ She thought as she walked to her room. She went inside and found one of the maids waiting for her with a black dress.

"The dress you requested, ma'mn." She said before leaving the room.

Tohru rubbed her eyes and looked at the dress."Oh mom..." She said. She took her time getting into it, trying to look not as tired and more composed.

For the rest of the day she wore that black dress, even when she was working in the garden. She set her face into a fixed, neutral position, not even saying much than a 'hello' when Kyo went to help her.

Kyo noticed something was up, and wasn't sure if it was connected to last night or not. When he tried to ask, he got a forced 'Oh, no. I'm fine, Kyo. Thank you so much for helping me." He didn't say anymore and figured it was that 'time of the month' for humans or something.

At lunch, Yuki came by to say hi and apologize for what happened the day before. Tohru smiled and accepted his apology, but Yuki noticed that something was up as well. When he left the garden (she has lunch in the garden) he went to ask Haru what he thought was wrong, and he knew just where to find him.

**Haru's POV: **

"Do you think we could go out to the country at one point?"

Haru laughed a little. "Of course we can." He said. "It's a perfect idea."

A knock sounded at the door. Haru groaned and got up from the bed reluctantly, leaving the warmth that was at his side. He knew from the smell it was Yuki, so he just opened the door.

"Hey, Haru. Um, is this a bad time?" Yuki asked, looking at who was sitting on Haru's bed.

"Sorta. What do you need?" Haru yawned.

Yuki looked back at Haru. "Can you figure out what's wrong with Tohru? She's wearing black even in the garden and she seemed...off."

"Idiot." Haru turned and looked at the woman on his bed. "It's a deathday for her. Humans can die easily, remember?"

"It is?" Yuki looked down. "I'm sorry, it's an off day for me..."

"Whatever." Rin said, shaking her long black hair. "Just leave."

Yuki shrugged and turned to go. "See you later, Haru. Have...fun."

"Bye, Yuki." Haru shut the door.

**Tohru's POV**

"Hey Tohru!" Tohru looked up to see Momiji standing next to her, licking an ice cream cone.

"Oh, hey Momiji." Tohru said before going back to pulling the weeds.

"Are you okay?" Momiji asked innocently.

"Well...sort of." Tohru didn't know how to explain that today was the day her mother died, since vampires didn't die so often. ***

"Do you feel sick...?"

"Um..." Tohru said. "Maybe...?"

"You need to go see Hatori then!" Momiji exclaimed.

"W-who?" Tohru said, a little startled.

"He can tell you what's wrong, he's a doctor! Let's go now!" Momiji grabbed Tohru's hand and pulled her up.

"Wait, Momiji-" But they were already on their way.

**AN:**

**Yes, people belonging to the Royal Family have powers, and only people belonging to the Royal Family. Here's a list (no future spoilers intended):**

**Kagura - super strength**

**Hatori - cuts off power to speak and erase memories**

**Ayame - super eyesight**

**Shigure - super hearing **

**Momiji - super taste (haha...yeah that's his power. pretty useless.)**

**Yuki - water**

**Kyo - fire**

**Kureno - levitation/air**

**Kisa - high-jump**

**Hiro - super speed**

**Haru - double personality (not a power, duh. but he's got enough going on)**

**Rin - invisibility **

**Ritsu doesn't get one, because I've cut him off...remember?**

**** EEEEEWWWW right?**

***** I know in the manga and anime she acts like usual but I don't want to copy events directly...so...deal.**

**More coming soon! **


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 **

"Momiji, I'm fine." Tohru insisted, trying to pull her hand out of the vampire's hand as they walked down a corridor. "I don't need to go see a doctor..."

Momiji looked at her, eyes wide in concern. "But you act so strange." He said innocently. "And when a human doesn't act like themselves, they're not healthy."

"But..." Tohru started but stopped when they came to a large white door with a red 'X' painted on the front.

"HA-TO-RIIIIIIIIII!" Momiji shouted happily, flinging open the door.

A dark-haired man looked up from a desk cluttered with papers, his pale face expressionless. "What, Momiji?" He looked at Tohru with the same expression. "This is the girl Yuki brought back from our last feeding." He said plainly.

"Oh! You're..." Tohru recognized his face. They had met unofficially not but 3 weeks ago, when he was holding Hana back from the conversation between her and the Prince. "Please-pleased to meet you!" She said, curtsying. "I'm Tohru Honda."

The man stood up, his head almost touching the tall cealing. He walked over to the two. "I am Hatori, the Family Doctor." He said. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"There's something wrong with Tohru, Ha'ri." The blonde boy pouted, pushing Tohru towards the tall vampire. "Make her feel better."

Hatori looked at the girl, who seemed more fraile than she was when they last met. "Come on in." He said, turning his back.

"Don't worry, I'm coming too." Momiji said happily when Tohru hesitated. She smiled back at him before following the doctor.

"Sit down." He said, gesturing to a group of armchairs in the corner of the room. "Let me get my supplies." He said as he walked into the other room.

Tohru looked around the small office-of-sorts. Despite the terrible mess of papers on the desk, everything was cleanly organized. Books filled the room in both small and large bookcases. * She looked at the shelf nailed right above the desk and noticed a picture of a beautiful girl smiling.

_That's weird. He doesn't strike me as the kind of...'person' to have someone to love. _She thought.

Momiji started to jump up and down in his seat. ** Hatori came back in the room with a large bag sat it down at Tohru's feet. He opened the bag and took out a thermometer. "Now, what exactly is wrong?" He said, flicking the metal end.

"Uhm... I kept trying to tell Momijij that nothing is wrong...I'm fine." She said. Hatori stuck the thermometer in her mouth for around 30 seconds before taking it out again.

"According to this you're not." Hatori said, putting the thermometer away and taking out a stethescope. He was about to put it on her chest to listen to her heartbeat when she suddenly pushed his arms away.

"Look, it's my mother's deathday, okay?!" She said angrily. *** "Don't you vampires know this?!"

Hatori pulled back the stethescope, looking a little worried. "That's why you've been acting up?"

"But Tohru, EVERYONE'S been worried." Momiji said, standing up. "Even Yuki couldn't focus today when he was practicing his skill because of you." ****

Tohru simply looked at the two vampires, trying to think of something to say. But before she could, Hatori stood up and put his hand on Momiji's shoulder. "Enough, Momiji." He said. "A Royal feeder who is not feeling well, physically or emotionally, must be treated." He looked at Tohru. "I will go get some medicine for you." He began to walk out but he stopped at the door. "You are, by far, the weakest human that I have seen."

Tohru looked astonishly at him as he went out the door. Why on earth dare he say that?!

"You know, Hatori used to be in a forbidden pact with a human." Momiji said, sitting back down and pulling his knees to his chest. "Don't take what he said personally."

"A forbidden pact?" Tohru asked, confused.

Momiji looked blankly at the girl before looking down at the floor. "According to the Vampire Monarchy law, vampires and humans cannot be more than master and servant. Ever since the first King, it has been this way. But Hatori broke this rule many years ago, when he went on a training seminar to a human village.

"While he was in his office one night, a girl came running through the doors." Momiji stood up and picked up the photograph of the young girl off of his desk. "Her father was very ill, and Hatori went to go treat him. She was impressed with his skills. The girl came back the next night, and every night after that until, reluctantly, he agreed to take her under an apprenticeship."

Momiji handed the photo to Tohru. "And they fell in love?" She asked.

He nodded. "Even after she found out he was a vampire, a monster so different from humans. Even when he almost attacked her when she cut her hand accidentally with one of his tools, she still loved him.

"But, soon, the King found out. He personally went to that village and killed every human there." Momiji sat back down. "Do you know that Ha'ri is technically blind? The king threw glass in his face and blamed her for it, even though she had nothing to do with his blindness!

"She blamed herself. She withered away from the guilt, from the fact her village was wiped from the map because of her, she was not the person she was anymore. So Ha'ri erased the time they had together. She went to another village, grew old there with another man, and died in peace."

Tohru's tears began to fall onto the picture of the girl. "That's...so sad." She sniffed. "Poor, poor, Hatori..." She stood up and put the picture back where it was. Momiji looked at her curiously,

"Why do you pity him?" Momiji asked. "Do you not despise us? Yuki took you from all that you knew, Hatori helped him do that!"

Tohru shook her head, still crying silently. "It is still a sad story. Inhuman or not, everyone should get their happy ending."

Momiji stared at her. Hatori walked back in, a small bottle and a spoon in one hand. He chose to not take notice of the girl's tears.

"Drink this tonight before your Master comes to feed." He said blankly, holding out the bottle. "You should feel a dizzy sensation before it takes effect."

The human girl looked at the bottle before shaking her head and folding her arms. "I will not drink that," she said "Until you tell me what HER name was." She pointed to the photo.

Hatori twitched. "Get out of my office." He thrusted the bottle and spoon into Momiji's arms and shooed the two out of the room, slamming the door behind them. He collapsed against the door, hands in his face in anguish. He looked at the picture, sadness in his eyes.

"Oh, Kana..."

* **Think of his office in the anime combined with the doctor's one. **

** **He's a child at heart XD but he's about 300 years old**

*** **Yeah, she may go out-of character sometimes when it comes to her mom**

****** His skill meaning his powers. Only elite vampires get them and they train to better control them.**

**Okay! I am sorry for how long this took. If you look at my profile, I now say that Blood Basket will be updated every Saturday and my new 12-part series, The Exotic Flower, will be updated every Sunday. **

**Thanks to Emjan-chan for the idea! **

**This chapter was focused mainly on Hatori's story because believe it or not - later on his story is going to matter A LOT. Next chapter will again be focused on Tohru and Kyo, but Yuki, Haru, and a NEW character will be introduced! (Yes it is a zodiac character...) **

**Please let me know what you think and what I can improve on! I can take the flame, since my name is flamefield after all :)**

**Thank you all so much!**

**flamefield**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

Two days went by after Tohru learned of Hatori's tragic story. After her mother's deathday, she instantly brightened up, going back to her naive traits. Everyone did not forget the way she looked, though, and in anxiousness they did little things to cheer her up, like what Kyo did at one point.

"That's so cute." Tohru giggled at the drawing Kyo had made. It is poorly drawn, but it was a picture of the city marketplace. "Are those supposed to be cats?" She asked, pointing to the edge of the drawing.

"Yeah." Kyo said, blushing a bit. "I figured you would want to see what our society would look like, you know, since you'll be presented soon to the public as that damn prince's first ever feeder." He crumpled the drawing into a little paper ball.

Tohru smiled and took the ball from him. "No, it's a good drawing, keep it." And handed it back to him.

Yuki, in the meantime, was growing more aware of the King's eyes upon his back, watching wherever he went. He knew something was wrong. He grew more nervous until one night someone knocked on his door.

"Come in." He said, putting down his pen.

Shigure entered, his eyes were unusually pale. "What happened?" Yuki gasped, shocked at the sight.

"It's nothing. I've been kept in the dark for a while doing some paperwork." Shigure said, rubbing his eyes a little. "I came to warn you that Akito is getting suspicious about that feeder of yours."

"Who, Tohru?" the Prince said, standing up.

"He suspects that you are not feeding from her often, that she is not pale enough to pass." Shigure looked around nervously. "You are never around her."

Yuki said nothing for a moment. "Thank you, Shigure." He walked past the black-haired vampire and held open the door. "You may go now."

Shigure simply walked out. Yuki closed the door behind him, putting his hands in his face and leaning against the wood. "What am I going to do?" He muttered quietly.

The next day, Tohru was eating her breakfast in one of the parlor rooms when Yuki entered.

"Good morning, Yuki!" She said happily, putting down her bread. "How did you sleep?"

"Very well, thank you Miss Honda." Yuki smiled, showing a little bit of his fangs. "I was wondering - may I join you in your activities for the next couple of days? I would love to see what you do." *

"Of course!" Tohru said, smiling back at the vampire. "But all I do is work in the garden. Kyo and Momiji-kun sometimes join me as well..."

Yuki sat down next to the human girl. "I have never worked in a garden before, that would be quite interesting to me." He said simply.

"Alright." Tohru said, picking her bread up and taking a bite.

Next thing the Prince knew, he was on his hands and knees in manure, planting flowers.

"Are you having fun?" Tohru said brightly as she watered a sunflower.

"Actually yes." Yuki smiled. He had a natural ability for things like this, surprisingly. **

They had lunch together in the shade and in the afternoon they were working again.

"I might get the rest of these flowers planted today, thanks to you, Yuki." Tohru laughed. "I was actually surprised when you asked to do this with me."

"Why would you say that, Miss Honda?" Yuki said as he scooped out some soil to make a hole.

"Well to me - Princes are not supposed to be in these types of situations." She pulled out a weed. "In my world, the Princes just rescue the Princesses."

Yuki laughed. "Believe me, Miss Honda, in MY world, the Princes are nothing like that."

Tohru looked at him, eyes full of sympathy. "That is a shame."

They worked in silence until Kyo came into the garden, carrying a shovel.

"Hey, Tohru." He said, resting the shovel on the ground. "Where is that big w-"

Yuki locked eyes with the orange-haired vampire, whose red eyes narrowed instantly.

"What is he doing here?" He demanded. Tohru looked up from the ground to see the two vampires staring at each other.

"Wait - he's here to help me." The girl jumped up and rushed over. "I'll show you where it is." She held his arm and lead him away from Yuki, although the two did not stop glaring at each other.

"Here it is." Tohru said. She and Kyo were in front of a massive, pulsing root. "Is something wrong?" She asked Kyo, who was at a loss for words. ***

"He's afraid that he won't be able to cut it down, Miss Honda." Yuki taunted the other vampire.

"No, there's nothing wrong." Kyo gritted his teeth and walked up to the root. He began to wack at the base angrily with the shovel.

"You need to cut it near the roots, stupid." Yuki called from where he was kneeling. Tohru looked at the orange-haired vampire, concerned, before going back to where she was pulling out much, much smaller roots.

Kyo, after getting a lot os the excess growth of, threw the battered shovel aside and started to push up on the root with his arms. He was about halfway through pushing it out when he heard the Prince laugh.

"I never knew that outcasts were so weak." Yuki sniggered, covering another seed pot with dirt.

Kyo let the root go, making the whole earth shake when it collided with the ground. "THAT'S IT!" He shouted, his whole body pulsing with energy. He took a deep breath and put his hands up.

"Oh shit." Yuki barely had time to think before he needed to jump out of the way. He looked back and saw a scorched hole. "That's the best you got?" Yuki taunted him.

Kyo's eyes flared a bright red and soon he was flinging fireballs everywhere Yuki was, but as soon as he shot one from his hands, Yuki jumped out of the way. Finally, just as Yuki was about to collapse from exhaustion **** Tohru ran up to Kyo and grabbed his arms.

"Stop it!" She screamed, crying a little. "You're burning down the garden!"

Kyo, in shock, looked around. Indeed, his fire had completely destroyed a good portion of the garden.

"I...I..." He stuttered. He looked at Tohru, an pained expression appearing on his face before he disappeared, running out of the smoldering ruins of a once-peaceful garden.

Yuki stood up and walked to the confused girl. "Let's go." He said softly, leading Tohru gently out of the room. He felt actually very bad - it was his fault in the first place that all her hard work had been destroyed within minutes. Yuki listened to his feeder's silent sobs as he walked her back to her room. As they entered her room he said quietly "I'm sorry, Miss Honda. It was my fault that this whole thing happened."

Tohru looked up at the vampire, crying slightly still. "If there's anything I can do-"

Suddenly, Yuki stopped, and began to claw fiercly at his throat. Tohru gasped and grabbed at his hands, trying to stop him. "Stop! Stop! Yuki, stop!" Tohru cried, frightened at his actions.

Yuki could feel his throat burning._ I can't be thirsty, not now._ He thought as he continued to scratch intensely at his throat. A sudden, sweet smell suddenly overwhelmed him, making him see stars. He looked down at the source, the human girl who was trying to stop him from hurting himself. _She smells...wonderful. _Yuki forgot once he realized that. He shoved his hands from his throat to the girl, pinning her against the wall roughly.

"Y-yuki?" Tohru asked, frightened as she looked at the vampire. Yuki's face was no longer the cool, kind boy that she had known for the past two months, but a dangerous predator who stared at her with hungry, flashing purple-black eyes. He growled in his chest as he stared at her neck in fascination.

Tohru squirmed as she tried to get out of his grip. The vampire licked his lips and grinned, his very sharp fangs poking out slightly. "Yuki! Stop! I don't want to die!" Tohru gasped, grimincing as the vampire leaned in closer, his mouth open. "Stop!" She cried as he was just about to bite harshly into her neck.

At that moment, Yuki snapped out of it. He let go of the human girl, who collapsed to the floor, breathing in and out harshly and holding her neck. "I- I am sorry." Yuki said, astonished that he had lost control so fast. "I shall go now." He turned to leave, but he stopped suddenly. "Listen, Miss Honda." He said, looking back slightly at Tohru. "Not all vampires can control themselves when they become filled with a lust for blood. Especially blood as sweet-smelling as yours." He continued walking out of her room, closing the door behind him.

Tohru put her head into her hands and began to cry out of relief.

_"Momma, what happens when a vampire bites you?" A brown-haired five-year-old girl asked the orange-haired woman who was hanging up her laundry. _

_ "Why are you thinking about such a thing, Tohru?" The woman laughed, pinning together a shirt to the clothesline. _

_ "Hana-chan said that when a vampire bites you, you die." The little girl handed her mother a pair of socks. _

_ "Well, it is up to the vampire in the end." The mother sighed. "He can decide to do whatever he desires to you, because once you are bitten, you are a slave. Saki-chan is right when she says he can kill you, but it is not always so. So make sure a vampire doesn't get you!" She suddenly began to tickle the little girl. _

_ "Nooooo Mama!" She squealed, rolling around in the grass. The two of them laughed as the wind blew the laundry around gently. _

***Again, only humans really eat 'food' 3 times a day, because it is a necessity. Vampires eat food to help sustain their thirst between meals.**

**** yes, he has his own secret garden in the real story, but I figure why not?**

***** He was under the impression that she meant a small tree, not a size-of-a-house root. **

****** For one, Yuki is sick somewhat still. Second, vampires are not immune to everything. They get tired too. **

** Thank you all again for reading this chapter of Blood Basket! I know I said that there would be a new character introduced, but for this particular character they would be better off being introduced in the next chapter. Don't kill me! This story is updated every Saturday, btw. **

** Also check out my other story, The Exotic Flower! 12-parts. **

** Rate, Review, Comment! :D **

** Thankee, **

** flamefield**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

**Tohru's POV:**

Tohru blearily opened her eyes as the warm sunlight washed over her room from the window. She took her time to cautiously peek her head out from under the covers to look at the door. The desk was still against it from when she had shoved it against there last night, so she knew that no one had tried to come in after Yuki had left. She breathed a sigh of relief and got out of bed, her legs still shaky even after a fitful night of sleep. She went to her dresser and began to brush her knotted hair.

_ "I... I can't believe he attacked me last night..._" She thought, staring at herself in the mirror. A ghost of a girl stared back. She knew that she was still a prisoner in this castle, and that in order to keep her village safe she would need to remain here for as long as she lived. The thought made her eyes well up, and she shoved her face into her hands, crying again. "_Oh, god...Mom...please help me..." _

_ "Be strong, Tohru." _Her mom's voice filled her. _"You can make it, promise me you will." _

Tohru sniffed and wiped her eyes. She had to continue living here. There was no chance of escape anyhow, since this was the Royal castle after all...

She put on her standard white clothing and pulled the desk out of the way of the door. She took a deep breath and stepped out into the hallway, only to trip over a large item sandwiched against the door.

"Oww..." Tohru rubbed her knee, looking back to surprisingly see Kyo snoring away, a large potted sunflower at his side. "Umm...Kyo?" She poked him hesitantly at his face.

He woke up immediately. "Tohru?"

"Are you okay?" She asked. "Why are you sleeping outside my door?"

"Listen," He sat up, clutching the sunflower. "I wanted to apologize for what I did yesterday...I know that being the gardener is important to you and that you don't have much to do here...besides being Yuki's feeder and all." * He thrusted the pot out to her and turned his face away. "So...here. I'm sorry."

Tohru looked at him and then the beautiful sunflower. She smiled and hugged him suddenly, forgetting for a second that vampires had a problem around her **. "Thank you, Kyo. This makes me feel a lot better now."

Her scent overwhelmed him, making his eyes flash an ever brighter red and his teeth extend. "You're welcome." He took a deep breath to stop his bloodlust and hugged her back for a moment before pushing her away. "I...I gotta go." He hastily handed her the plant before running down the closest stairs.

Tohru continued to smile as she walked back into her room and put the enormous plant onto her desk. Her mother was right: everything was going to be okay.

**Kyo's POV**

He coughed harshly, sinking back into the shadows. God, how he wanted her. Her scent kept consuming him whenever he got close to her, and his sensei hadn't taught him to proper techniques yet to control his overwhelming bloodlust. He only knew how to breathe, and that he should never be allowed by her. He was testing himself enough just by working in the garden with her... He slammed a fist into the stone wall behind him, punching a large crater in the wall.

_Just cool it..._ He told himself.

**Tohru's POV**

After Tohru ate her usual breakfast (which was usually some bread and berries) she decided to brave the horror of the garden and go back to see the damage that Kyo had caused. She was walking down the usual pathway when Yuki suddenly turned the corner.

"Tohru-" He stopped when he saw that she was backing away from him. "Look, Tohru, I'm sorry for last night...I didn't know what had come over me...I just need to feed more." His purple eyes were full of hurt. "Please don't hate me..."

Tohru stopped backing away. "I...I don't hate you, Yuki, and I accept your apology...you just really scared me last night..."

He nodded. "Yeah...not all vampires can control themselves. We are really demons, you know. But you can trust me."

Tohru nodded. "Yes..."

"But look, I need your help." Yuki reached out a pale hand to her and she reluctantly took it. "There's someone you need to meet."

He led her down a series of complex hallways before they came to a door. Yuki knocked twice and the white-haired vampire that had been with Yuki at the village slaughtering opened it. Tohru stepped back in fear, her eyes wide. ***

"Good, you brought her." The vampire opened the door all the way, inviting them inside. Tohru needed Yuki to tug her a little before she walked inside. It was one of the fancily decorated ones, but there was a lump with a tuft of orange hair sticking out hiding under a blanket on the floor.

"Tohru, you've met Haru, correct?" Tohru smiled as best as she could at the expressionless vampire.

"Look, she won't even feed from her favorite feeder." Haru said, kneeling down to the lump. "And she isn't speaking at all." He removed the blanket from the lump and Tohru gasped. "I'm at a loss at what to do."

It was a vampire child, around Momiji's age. **** She had short, orange hair and orange-red eyes. Her pale skin contrasted harshly with the green-blue coloring of the room.

"Her name is Kisa." Yuki said to Tohru, leaning down with Haru to look at her. "What did Hatori say?"

"He said it is not a physciall sickness, but it is a mental sickness." Haru stroked her hair while she looked up at him, expressionless. "Her mother had died recently, as you know, the vampire slayers had gotten her when she was feeding with her usual coven." *****

"Well, what can Tohru do?" Yuki asked. "She is naught but my own personal feeder."

Haru looked at the human girl. "Tohru, would you mind coming here?" She nodded reluctnantly and knelt down to Kisa's level. "Could you take her around with you for the day? To see if that has any effect on her?"

"Wo-would you like that Kisa?" Tohru smiled. Kisa looked at Tohru for a minute and then nodded.

The rest of the day Kisa followed her around along with Yuki and Haru. They went to the garden and surveyed the entire damage, which thanks to vampire technology ****** everything should be back to normal enough. Tohru had asked Kisa what they should plant next in an attempt to make her talk, but it was without avail.

"C'mon, Kisa. It's a simple question and you can't even think of an answer?" Haru said, staring at the child vampire, who remained silent.

"Hey, wait a moment." Tohru picked up a small branch that was on the ground and scratched a couple of drawings onto the ground along with some lines. "Okay, Kisa. This part means a mangolia, this part means a venus flytrap, and this area means a rose. Just follow the lines to tell us what you want us to plant next!" She handed the stick to Kisa.

Haltingly, Kisa followed the lines and found her match. "Okay," Tohru said, peering at the ground. "Kisa wants us to plant...a venus flytrap!"

Yuki's face paled even more. "But-but they're extremely dangerous Tohru."

Tohru looked at him. "This is what Kisa wants us to plant and that is what we are going to plant next, no matter what!"

"Tohru has a point, Yuki..." Haru said.

"That's not what I mean and you know it..."

As the two of them argued, Tohru noticed Kisa's mouth perking up into a smile of sorts.

**Yuki's POV**

Later, Yuki was in his room working on some documents when he heard a knock. Shigure's face peeked out of the shadows when he opened the door.

"What do you want, Shigure?" Yuki let the vampire in.

"I just wanted to let you know that Akito is no longer suspecting that Tohru is your feeder. Haru had told him that you let Kisa 'have a nibble'."

Yuki sighed in relief. "I'll have to thank Haru later. Thank you again, Shigure."

"Of course." Shigure began to walk to the door. "But he'll find out sooner or later, though...as will everyone. Be careful."

Yuki watched him close the door behind him with a grim expression on his face.

_What to do... _

*** Every vampire assumes that she is being fed off from Yuki**

**** Her scent is very overpowering**

***** She hasn't met Haru 'officially' yet**

****** She hasn't been explained the vampire's ages yet**

*******when they talk about covens they mean the groups they go out to feed in**

********meaning supernatural powers**

**Hey guys...yeah I know there hasn't been a new chapter for like 3 months. Recently my father has passed away and I just haven't felt like writing... period. Which if this chapter upsets you in anyway, I'm sorry, I just don't feel up to writing good-clarity chapters yet/those don't come in till later in the story. I appreciate all of your support and that this story has received so much attention. I will continue to write this story as with my other one (the exotic flower) and I will try to make it on the pre-approved Saturday and Sunday deadlines. **

**Thank you for being fans! :)**

**Rate, Review, and Comment!**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

It took a week to plant AND maintain the venus flytraps. Kyo volunteered to bravely fight off their massive poison-tipped jaws with his fire while Tohru, and Momiji sealed the roots into the ground with dirt.

"Why on earth..." Kyo panted as he struck a flytrap unconscious, "Did KISA want these maneaters to be planted?" He partially glared towards the direction of the childlike vampire, who sat quietly on a bench nearby, watching the excitement with golden-red eyes. "They're useless and dangerous!"

Tohru stood up from where she was patting the earth among the roots. "I think they're fascinating, actually." She said, shaking the dirt from her apron. "They're ferocious, because of their need to get food. But also because they need to protect their heart, the most vulernable place on their body." * She stared at the sleeping plant, a puzzled yet fascinated look on her face.

Kyo looked at the brown-haired human. "I guess. I'm outta here for today." he grumbled before shuffling out of the garden. "Bye Kyo!" Tohru called out to his retreating form before it vanished into the darkness of the castle. "He didn't have to be so rude..." She muttered to herself, glancing at Kisa.

Kisa looked down, a confused look on her face. She clasped her small white hands together in her lap and closed her eyes. Tohru came over, a pair of gloves in one hand and a rake in the other.

"Hi Kisa." The human girl smiled, holding out the items. "Why don't you come help plant some lionray bulbs** with me and Momiji?"

"Yeah Kisa!" The hyperactive blonde vampire popped up behind Tohru. "You've been here in the garden with us for like the longest time but you haven't planted anything at all! Come plant with us!"

Kisa slowly opened her eyes and looked at the duo. After a moment, she nodded and stood up from the sun-soaked bench. Tohru smiled as the little vampire took the tools from her. "Follow me." She said, turning and walking to another part of the garden.

LATER ***

"Thanks so much for helping us, Kisa." Tohru said as they walked down one of the many hallways. "Tomorrow we're planting cherry tomatoes! Would you like to help us then as well?"

Kisa perked up and a bit of a smile graced her face as she nodded yes excitedly.

"That's great! Tomorrow-"

"FOR THE LAST TIME KAGURA I WON'T!" An angry voice that came from around a corner interrupted Tohru's sentence. The two girls looked at each other before peering around the shadowed pillar. Kyo was standing above the Crown Princess, Kagura, who was on the ground crying.

"Kyo..." Kagura wept, reaching a hand out towards the orange-haired vampire. "Please..."

"NO Kagura!" Kyo spat, stepping out of the princesses reach. "I will never do such a deed! Throw me into the Cage for eternity I'd rather rot, no, DIE, than do something so disgusting." He turned away from the crying vampire and vanished into the shadows.

The Crown Princess covered her face and began to sob loudly, her cries echoing the hallway. Tohru rushed over and knelt down next to her. "Are you okay?" She asked, a little scared. What did Kyo not want to do? It was something big, she figured, otherwise the always-happy princess wouldn't be crying now on the stone floor. '_What is 'the Cage'? ' _ She thought to herself.

Kagura sniffed, wiping her face. "Oh...you're Yuki's feeder, Tohru." She said, getting up from the ground. "Thank you, but..." the vampire burst into tears again. Kisa walked over from where she was standing and embraced the princess. "Do you need to sit down?" Tohru asked, glancing around the hallway for a chair.

"No." Kagura hugged Kisa back. "Thank you Kisa..."

"Um...well...your highness is there anything I can do?" Tohru shifted from one foot to the other uncomfortably.

Kagura thought for a moment before speaking. "Actually a cup of tea would do wonders...would you mind helping make sure I get to my private parlor room?"

"Of course." Tohru began to follow Kagura and Kisa down the hallway. They turned a couple of times and entered a large room. Tohru gasped at the clarity of the space - there were crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and every piece of furniture looked extremely expensive. Kisa sat down next to Kagura at one of the glass tables. "Come, Tohru. Sit." Kagura pointed.

"What? Oh." Tohru snapped out of her trance and sat down at the other end of the table. Kagura wiped her eyes again and picked up a small bell in the middle of the table and rang it. Almost instantly three male servants appeared with a large tray of scones, tea set, and plates.

"Enjoy." They said, bowing before vanishing as quickly as they came.

"You must be wondering why I was crying." Kagura said, taking the three cups and pouring tea into each one carefully. ****

"Oh no, I don't want to ask about a personal problem between you and Kyo." Tohru said quickly, folding her hands in her lap. "That would be rude of me."

Kagura sat one of the cups in front of Kisa and the other in front of Tohru. "It's not rude at all." She said, taking a sip from her own cup. "Mmm, jasmine."

"Thank you for the tea, though." Tohru spoke before drinking a little herself. "Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

"Yes, it's just...complicated. That's all."

"I see." Tohru set down her cup. "Actually, I was wondering...what did Kyo mean when he said the 'Cage'? Is that a place?"

Kagura was quiet for a moment. "Yes. It is a place where there is no sun, no air, and no companionship. People who are fated to stay there live in agony for eternity." She took another mouthful of the tea and swallowed. "Actually, Kyo is sentenced to go to the Cage by next summer's moon." *****

"What?" Tohru's eyes widened. "But why?"

"Because he is the half-breed scum of the Royal Family. Because of his heritage he must pay for his mother and father's sins." Kagura looked partially at Kisa. "It is forbidden for humans and vampires to have an intimate relationship with one another. To do so means death in the worst possible way. Kyo's parents were killed in a public execution when he was but five years old."

Tohru picked her cup up again, shaking a little. "But...if he is half-human, won't he die when put in the Cage since there is no air?"

"Not exactly." Kagura took a scone from the basket. "He will grow old physically but he won't die. He will keep shrinking until he dies from becoming too small."

"That's...horrible." Tohru looked at Kisa. "But what about Kisa? Will she suffer the same fate?"

"Kisa is still growing, but she won't grow old physically. She is a child vampire, as is Momiji." Kagura pointed out. "We vampires live forever."

"Oh...I see." Tohru drank a little. _'It's not my place to ask her what she was wanting Kyo to do...'_ She thought.

"Unless we get sick, of course." Kagura said. "The King right now is sick and soon he shall die. Then Yuki and I must ascend the throne."

Tohru nodded and smiled. "Well that's good, right?"

"No." Kagura finished her tea. "I do not wish to become Queen."

"Ah." Tohru put her cup down. "I must be going, actually."

"We shall do this again, I just know it." The princess smiled at the human. "Goodbye then, Tohru."

Tohru smiled back as she exited the parlor room.

"I like her." Kagura said to a quiet Kisa. "She's nice."

Kisa nodded as Kagura poured herself another cup. "She better not try to steal Kyo from me, though. Then we'd have to have another...accident like last time, won't we?" Kagura gulped down the tea. "The mess is extremely bothersome." Kisa nodded again and looked down. _All the blood...the sticky blood._

MEANWHILE

"Come on...come on...it has to be somewhere." Shigure sighed in frustration as he wrenched open another drawer. The room around him was ransacked, papers were everywhere and two cabinets were broken into multiple pieces. "DAMMIT!" He roared, throwing the dresser across the room.

"Looking for this?" Shigure snapped his head to see Hatori holding out a scroll in front of him. "You know that this will blow up in your face later, right?"

Shigure laughed and stood up. "I don't care. My prayers have been answered. I need that scroll, old friend."

"She won't change anything. She's but a simple human girl." Hatori said quietly. "Stop this nonsense before you end up getting killed."

"No." Shigure walked up to the black-haired vampire and looked him straight in the face. "Things are changing now, Hatori. You and I know that I need that scroll in order to have this work."

Hatori looked at his old friend before sighing. "Good luck." He handed the scroll to Shigure, who immediately walked out of the room.

"I hope that he knows as well as I do that revenge won't work unless you have a backup plan..." Hatori glanced sadly at one of the cabinets where HER picture lay. "At least he has the guts to do it."

*** prelude, am I right? ^_^**

**** made-up flower**

***** Didn't want to describe it...I'm lazy **

****** I just had her do it even if by royal terms the servants pour the tea**

******* the first night of summer. By the way, it's autumn right now in the story**

**Hey guys!**

**As you probably realized, I deleted The Exotic Flower because I want to focus on this story for now. I also got the entire storyline worked out for this so it should be easy from here on out. I will continue to get this out as soon as I can! ('ll try to meet the Saturday deadline) This chapter may be confusing but next chapter a couple big breakthroughs happen trust me. :) **

**Thank you all for your support!**

_flamefield_


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